you've got to swim
by bubblegumrock
Summary: "I'm not afraid of drowning," she says; but she's all alone and there's no one around for the words to fool. There's no point, so she surrounds herself with water and wills herself to not think for a while until her mind has gone completely blank. Togami/Aoi if you squint really really hard.


_**warnings! ! ! ! this story contains mentions of attempted suicide, and contains spoilers for the later chapters of dangan ronpa please do not read if either of those things make you uncomfortable please **_

* * *

"I'm not afraid of drowning," she says; but she's all alone and there's no one around for the words to fool. There's no point, so she surrounds herself with water and wills herself to not think for a while until her mind has gone completely blank.

* * *

That's how they find her.

Someone jumps in to grab her, she's still not sure who, only that they muttered some expletives when realizing just how_ cold _she was. And that was that.

She wakes up later in a dormitory that is definitely not her own and is faced with the unblinking stare of her most stoic classmate. Aoi recoils further under the cover of the small mountain of blankets -_ pleasejustforonce pretendyoudon't know everything _- she wills the girl with her thoughts, but naturally it's a futile attempt.

"Super High School Level Swimmers do not just drown."

Aoi fights back the urge to flinch.

* * *

"I'm glad you're okay," Naegi smiles gently over some breakfast. They've all gathered into the cafeteria and it's a painfully grim atmosphere though the swimmer opts to give the boy some credit for his halfhearted attempt to thaw it.

Aoi simply nods, ignoring the looks coming from the other students. She can feel the judgement. _How could you just give up_? _After everything she did for you. Us. _She pushes away the plate of donuts, the smell of them suddenly nauseating her.

"Not hungry?" Kirigiri inquires from across the table, appearing characteristically disinterested. At Aoi's noncommittal shrug of her shoulders, she presses on. "You should eat anyway and build up your strength. Your body needs the nutrition."

"Yeah! You love donuts, right?" Hagakure offers unhelpfully from his corner.

"Thank you for being concerned," the swimmer swallows, regretfully. "But I think I'll just head back to my room for a while and rest."

Surprisingly, the one to protest is not Kirigiri this time, but Togami. "You can't be left alone. For obvious reasons," he adds coolly while adjusting the frames of his glasses. "We don't need to have _another_ unnecessary trial for_ another _meaningless suicide."

She can't control the fist that collides with the heir's nose. Or the relentless kicks that are aimed blindly at him before someone pulls her away.

* * *

After that, Togami retreats back to his old habits, and avoids breakfast in the cafeteria entirely. Apparently having to nurse a broken nose could do wonders to knock down one's ego. Aoi's spirits are lifted only slightly at the turn of events.

Though, the swimmer is constantly on the receiving end of Fukawa's vicious glares which truthfully wouldn't bother her half as much if the girl wasn't confirmed to be a part time serial killer.

Oh, well.

* * *

She talks to Sakura sometimes before she goes to sleep. She's tried talking to her other classmates, too, because on the off chance they _can_ hear her she certainly doesn't want them to feel left out or forgotten.

"I'm sorry," Aoi says sorrowfully, clutching onto a pillow. "I'm sorry I probably let you down by being so weak... I miss you and I'd like to know that you're somewhere nice, but I was also very selfish and tried finding out for myself prematurely."

The words become heavy on her tongue. "Our classmates - our _friends _- I know they don't really need me but they still saved me. They're trying to keep me alive, just like you did. So, um, I'll do my best from now on. To live, I mean, as best as I can do in this place. I'm still kind of scared. I don't think I want to die here."

"Goodnight, Sakura."

It's hard to fall asleep that night.

* * *

"If you're going to the pool, I'll go with you."

"No," Aoi retorts, stubbornly, and she presses onwards to the second floor without so much as acknowleding the heir trailing determinedly behind her. It works nicely until they reach the changing rooms and he's still there. "I'm not going to..." It proves difficult to finish her own sentence.

"I know," Togami deadpans, eyes averting her own. "I have something I wish to discuss with you _if that's alright_." The last part is laced with a venom and she realizes how difficult it must be for him to even feign politeness.

The swimmer sighs and slides her ID card to unlock the girl's changing room. "Fine. Meet me in the pool. I _am_ going to swim, though, so you'll have to sit by the poolside."

"Fine," he agrees, reluctantly.

* * *

He sputters comically when she splashes him with a combination of a great amount of force and chilly water. Instantly, Togami's face grows red with anger as he stands up to dry himself. "If you're going to be a child, I'm going to leave."

Aoi shrugs her shoulders carelessly. "You're the one who wanted to talk. If you're going to give up that easily it can't be that important, can it?"

"You're even stupider than I originally took you for," he spits, but he sits himself back down, so she must have done something right. "Now are you going to stop playing for a moment and listen? Or should I go grab my rain boots and an umbrella?"

"You have rain boots?"

"Yes, of course. Because it's a definite necessity here, seeing as it's constantly raining indoors and all." The sarcasm isn't lost on the swimmer, and she snickers, though she probably wasn't meant to find it funny. "Now shut up because I'm about to tell you something you have no right knowing."

Aoi braces herself.

"I..._Idon'tknowhowtoswim_."

"Lots of people don't," Aoi's eyebrows furrow together in confusion as she tries to decipher what Togami was trying to accomplish with this admission. "It's, uh, it's okay. I mean you don't have to be embarrassed about it or anything."

"I'm not embarrassed!" Togami snaps, face entirely coated in red. "Just, _tch_. Never mind. I don't know why I'm even bothering with you."

He leaves hastily, mumbling some vaguely familiar expletives, before Aoi can even begin to grasp the meaning behind this unusual exchange.

* * *

**_a/n: lmao the joke is he was the one to pull her out because that's something an out of character togami would do get with the times_**


End file.
